


Noon Flower

by Kithera



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types
Genre: Action, Angst, Angst and Tragedy, Character Death, Fear, Fights, Flower Challenge, Force Bond (Star Wars), Gen, Jedi Code (Star Wars), Jedi Training (Star Wars), Monsters, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), POV Original Character, Reddit February Challenge, Synesthesia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:27:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29286024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kithera/pseuds/Kithera
Summary: 28. The valour of the noonflowerEven in the snowThe noonflower does not wither:The sun’s lightAll Padawan Taeyn D'levosh wanted was to find the mythical Noon Flower -  the one that only flowered in the depths of winter amongst the snow.That had been his plan. Now he finds himself running from monsters that eat the Force while his Master lies dying.
Relationships: Jedi Master Character(s) & Original Jedi Character(s)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 7
Collections: /r/FanFiction Prompt Challenge #22 / February 2021





	1. A promise gone wrong

“Padawan.” 

Taeyn turned from where he’d been staring out through the sleet and the snow, and headed back to where his Master was lying at the back of the cave. He was cold. A bone-chilling ache that had crept through his robes and into his bones. Somewhere back in the darkness, he could hear his Master’s shuddering breaths as the poison worked its sorcery. 

“I’m still here, Master.” Taeyn tried to keep his voice level and the panic away from the edges. 

This was supposed to be a simple mission. It was just intelligence gathering from the local security forces as to why people had disappeared in the area. It had been one of those fly in, fly out type jobs. Nothing much to see, not much to do really, just fill in reports. Certainly nothing heroic or deadly, unless you could die of boredom or papercuts. 

It had been his idea to lighten up the mission by climbing into the foothills of Mount Pompinux to find the fabled noonflower. Secretly he had wanted to give one to Namia, to show her the beauty of a flower that grew amongst the snow. 

That was yesterday. That had been before the things had appeared. The reptile men with their staccato laughter that had chased and fought and harried them higher into the hills. 

“Taeyn.” 

His Master’s voice normally so strong now had a fevered edge to it. Taeyn shut his eyes and tried to give his emotions to the Force but there was nothing there. Nothing but bone aching cold and emptiness. The warmth that had surrounded him his whole life had been sucked away by the reptile men, just as their poison was sucking away the life of his Master.

“Coming Master.” 

He tried to fix a comforting smile on his face as he reached his Master. The back of the cave was moderately warmer, out of the wind where the eddies of snow could not reach. 

It had been his idea to rest here. 

They’d lost the reptile men as the storm had started but he knew they were still out there somewhere. He’d used what little Force sense had left to find the cave and half-carried, half-dragged his Master with him into it. 

Now they were stuck here until the storm eased, or the reptile men found them or help arrived. 

Taeyn had little hope for the latter, there was no reason to go looking for a Jedi and his padawan. Not when the Jedi were so capable, so determined and so foolishly sure of their place in the world. 

He knelt down by his Master’s body and bit the inside of his lip as he looked at Master Indoa’s pale face. The Togruta’s breathing was shallow and pain was etched into his expression making a mockery of the strong and wise Master he’d always been. 

“You have…have to run, run pada…padawan,” Indoa’s voice wavered as he spoke as if each word was effort. “The Mukdar…Muk…dar will kill you if, if they find…find you here.” 

Mukdar. So that’s what the reptile men were called.  _ Force Eaters _ . He vaguely remembered Initiate Master Pynde-gard telling them stories of the Mukdar to scare them into doing the right thing. 

“ _ Eat your dinner, initiate D’levosh or the Mukdar will come and get you.” _

He shuddered. As a child, he’d been scared of these creatures who ate a Jedi’s ability, and, if you believed Pynde-gard, snacked on small children. He’d dismissed them as he’d gotten older as a fantasy, like believing in Star Birds or Silans. 

“I’m not going to leave you Master. I don’t care what you say. I just wish I could do more.” 

He found his Master’s hand and squeezed it, noting how cold the fingers were and the weakness of his grip. He stared at his Master’s shoulder where the Mukdar’s weapon had entered. He could see oozing blood and could still feel the thick, yellow paste that had coated the projectile his Master had pulled out. 

“You…you need to run. Run…padawan. The pain…pain is getting stro…stronger. I will not, not live out the night. If you kill…kill me now, you, you can run.”

Taeyn froze. His brain could barely process what his Master had asked of him. 

“I can’t. I--Master--how--uh--I can’t.” The words came out as a rush. Despite the cold, his face was suddenly burning. Indoa’s grip on his hand was suddenly strong and powerful again. The Togruta half lifted himself off the ground and Taeyn could see the beads of sweat that suddenly appeared on his Master’s face. 

“You must padawan. It’s the only way you will survive.” 

Taeyn shook his head, tears pricking his eyes and leaving hot trails down his face. 

“Just wait Master, I can feel The Force returning.” He wiggled his fingers in the air as a desperate attempt to will his abilities to return faster. “When it returns, I’ll be able to heal you. You just need to hold on.” 

His master gave a hollow laugh that turned into a whimper of pain. His face was white now. 

“It…it won’t be, be enough Padawan. I’m ask-- asking this of you, you as my, my pada- padawan. Relieve my…my suffering and make, make your escape. This is, is the only way.”

“I can’t Master. I just can’t.” Taeyn was sobbing now. He hated himself and the fact that the reptile men, the Mukdar, had stolen away his one ability to make his Master whole again. 

“Padawan. Padawan you, you have been my great…greatest joy. You will make a wise…and kind…kind Jedi, but…but the only way to get….to be--become the Jedi that I have seen…seen in my visions, is for you to escape now.” 

Taeyn shook his head. 

“I can’t Master. I can’t. I can’t be the one responsible for your death.” 

Master Indoa gave him a sad smile and closed his eyes. Taeyn squeezed his Master’s hand again and then closed his eyes in the cave’s gloom as the tears ran in little steaming rivulets down his face. 


	2. Silent Goodbyes

Taeyn carefully and tenderly let go of his Master’s grip. In the colder air of pre-dawn, his muscles were stiff and sore. Even though he could feel the warmth of the Force returning, he could not bring himself to use it. 

It had returned too late. Too late to help his Master. Too late to ease the older Jedi’s pain as he had moaned and whimpered in the freezing air. Too late to stop the convulsions or the way his breathing had become laboured and blood flecked. Too late to save him. 

Taeyn had been helpless to do anything other than hold his Master’s head gently in his lap until his last shuddering breaths. He’d not moved even as his Master’s body had started to cool. He’d watched the storm ebb and flow around the mouth of the cave as if nature itself was projecting his grief upon the world. He’d sat in silence until his fingers tingled with the Force. Until it flared, searing across his body and his mind, announcing its return and warning him of danger. 

Taeyn reverently lowered his Master’s head onto the ground. He tenderly arranged his Master’s cold hands across his chest and folded his robes so that they sat properly on his body. 

It wasn’t much of a funeral. Taeyn ran his fingers along the edge of his Master’s cloak, wishing desperately that Master’s body would remain undisturbed until he could get help. 

Taeyn gently unhooked his Master’s lightsaber from his belt. He briefly thought about taking it with him. Maybe it would be good to have two weapons when facing the Mukdar.

He couldn’t do it. 

He gently tucked the lightsaber under his Master’s hands and stood. The Force was spiking hot and sharp out in the snow. They were there. 

He had to move. 

Taeyn rolled his shoulders back, willing life and heat back into his frozen muscles.

He looked down once more at his Master and then stood and headed out of the cave; into the blinding light of the morning sun. 

  
  



	3. The flower in the snow

He didn’t know how long he’d trudged. The snow lay thick and soft and, even with the help of the Force, he felt that he was wading through mud. The snowflakes had snuck inside his boots and clung to his legs, sending cold rivulets down to pool around his toes. 

He struggled onto a rocky outcrop to get his breath and his bearings and felt them again. 

The Force normally flowed warm and comforting around him, but where they were icy. Different from the cold of the snow and the wind, it was a soul-sucking, bone-breaking cold that leeched all the warmth from the air around it. Taeyn turned to see them watching him carefully. 

There were no tracks. It was as if they’d appeared from thin air.

“Look, the little pup has lost its master,” the smaller and, Taeyn guessed, younger one crooned. 

“Little pup is just right for us then.” 

Taeyn eyed them, calling his lightsaber to his hand. The Mukdar smiled, two wide green lips in a reptilian face. They blinked showing slitted pupils and their grins widened as Taeyn’s lightsaber sprung to life in his hand. 

“I will not give in to you.” Taeyn found his voice much stronger than he thought it would be. 

He wanted to scream at them; to hurl every one of the tricks that he’d been taught as a Jedi. 

He wanted to make them pay for what they had done to Master Indoa. For what he had done by letting his Master die in pain. 

The last thought caught him by surprise and meant he almost missed the warning flash of the Force as the larger Mukdah fired its weapon. 

His muscles protested the lack of sleep and long trudge through the snow as he dodged it. The two Mukdahs let out the short, staccato laugh that he’d heard when they’d first attacked them. 

“Ha--Ha--Ha. This pup is a fighter. He will make an excellent addition to our collection.”

“I won’t go with you. You killed my Master, but you won’t take me.” 

Taeyn’s lightsaber thrummed in his hand. He knew the threat was an empty one. His Force abilities didn’t work against them. Everything that he and his Master had thrown against them yesterday, every push, every kinetic attack hadn’t been rebuffed like he would have expected, but had been absorbed. They had laughed their stupid staccato laugh and attacked with blasters and metal stars. It had been one of the stars laced with the poison that…

Taeyn shied away from the thought. The feel of his Master’s cold hands and pain filled eyes was still fresh in his memory. He spun his lightsaber and fell back, by habit, into a fighting stance. Just because he couldn’t win didn’t mean he wouldn’t die trying. 

“It is yours little one.” The taller Mukdar spoke, pushing the young one. “He is small and weak. He will be good practice. Ha---Ha--Ha--Ha.” 

The younger one nodded and eagerly drew his own blade. Taeyn’s grip tightened as he waited for the first blow. It didn’t take long. The Mukdar crouched down onto all fours and leapt high in the air. It somersaulted over Taeyn’s head to land on the other side. The leap was extraordinary and Taeyn realised that this was why they’d left no tracks. They could jump inhumanly far. 

The Mukdur beckoned at him and Taeyn willingly followed. 

Taeyn struck blow after blow. He tried to listen to the ebb and flow of the Force, but it felt like he was watching someone else go through the motions. The warning flares and the eddies that showed where the next strike would be glimmered on the edge, but it was hard to follow them. The Mukdar seemed to suck the warmth from the air. 

Parry. 

Repost. 

Hit. 

Hit. 

Hit. 

Miss. 

The Mukdar’s blade came down heavily on his lightsaber and Taeyn stumbled, almost over balancing. The world spun and he realised that he’d made a terrible mistake. 

Just as he had yesterday when Master Indoa and he had fought them. 

Just as he had when he’d suggested trying to find the noonflower. 

Just as he had when he hadn’t followed his Master’s last request. 

Any use of The Force, even if it was just to warn him of the next strike was enough for the Mukdar to  _ feed _ on.

The Mukdar laughed. “Ha--Ha--Ha--Ha.” 

The Mukdar kicked towards his chest. Taeyn felt like he was suddenly moving through treacle. There was no more energy. No more thought. No feeling. Just the narrowing of his vision down to the image of the booted foot heading straight towards him. 

The Mukdar’s foot connected with his chest in an explosion of pain. He staggered backwards into a snowdrift, dropping his lightsaber. 

Taeyn tried to climb groggily to his feet although the world refused to tell him which actual way was up. His feet scuffed the rock face dislodging a drift of snow. 

Underneath, the red blooms of a noon-flower gazed up at him. 

He could have cried but any emotion had leached away into the snow. Taeyn bent low and picked one of the flowers. He tucked it into his pocket, his body moving as if controlled by strings. He straightened and tried to call his lightsaber but the Force was only a lukewarm glimmer on his fingertips. The smaller Mukdar reached him and grasped him by the shoulder. The monster turned and grinned at the older one.

“And now it is time for us to feast, yes?” 

“Yes.” The older one grinned showing sharp and pointed teeth. “Now it is time for us to feast.”

The long talon-like fingers closed around his arm. Taeyn tried to struggle but the Mukdah just tightened his grip. His smile grew and he opened his mouth showing a row of gleaming, pointed teeth.

There was nothing but icy darkness. 


	4. Epilogue

If he closed his eyes he could still see her. Dark hair, chopped short. Golden brown skin. The way she tilted her head when she smiled.

If he scrunched his eyes tight enough and didn’t make a sound, he could almost smell her. Could almost touch her. Could almost imagine that he was holding her. That they were back on the grass watching the fireworks burst overhead. 

But that was never going to be. 

He could never go back. 

That was a life that he could never return to and he had to let her go. 

He stretched his hand out in the dark but no matter what he did he couldn’t feel the Force. 

He’d heard the Mukdar arguing what they would do with him but he didn’t care. For now, he was alive and the younger one had said that he would be  _ useful _ . 

He didn’t know what that meant. He just knew that it was keeping him alive. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the little flower. Its delicate petals were creased and bruised but it had still kept its colour. He stroked its delicate petals wondering why he couldn’t crush it beneath his heel. He wanted to destroy it, just as the rest of his life had been destroyed. 

Hot tears ran down his cheek. 

If only…but there was no point to the if onlys. They would never bring his Master back. They would never bring him back to her. 

He cradled the flower gently and tenderly. He would keep the flower but he had to let her become nothing but a memory. If he didn’t he would never survive. 

In the cold gloom of his cell he scrubbed the tears from his cheeks. 

He had to let her go to save himself. She would think him dead and she would move on. The universe was large enough that she would never know. That was how it would be. He would survive in this blizzard just like the flower he held in his hands. 


End file.
